Thai
Restauranteur Thrives on Success

by

Toronto - Wandee Young comes from humble beginnings, but you
wouldn't know it by looking at her today. The owner of three of the most fashionable and
favored Thai food restaurants in Toronto, Ms Young is a roaring success.

The author of a book called The Young Thailand Cookbook
(with Byron Ayanoglu), she is constantly on local TV and radio shows, the topic of many
press reports and restaurants reviews, and her establishments have won three Toronto
Dining Awards.

Thai restauranteur Wandee Young

Born in Phuket, Wandee moved to Bangkok with her family when
she was just a baby. Her mother ran a small restaurant on Rama I Road, near the National
Stadium. While in Bangkok, Wandee met and fell in love with a Chinese-Canadian professor,
who happened to be working in Thailand at the time.

She married him and moved to Canada. In the beginning it was
very rough for her, especially when her marriage started to turn sour. She took jobs
taking out garbage and skinning chickens for much less than the required minimum wage in
Canada, while caring for her young son Serksarn (who today helps her run her restaurants).

Somehow, she managed to save enough money to open her first
restaurant calling it "Young Thailand." The enterprise didn't last a year, but
it started a wave that has resulted in Canada's favorite foreign food craze - Thai
cuisine.

Next, Wandee went to work as a head cook for a restaurant
called "The Bamboo." Although the restaurant catered to a Caribbean theme,
Wandee was able to mix in a number of Thai treats creating quite a menu and following
among the restaurant's clientele.

In 1990, she tried to go it alone again, and this times she
met with success opening her "Young Thailand Restaurant" on Gerrard Street in
Toronto, in an ex-student cafeteria near Ryerson Polytechnical University.

In 1993, she opened her second restaurant on Church Street in
the heart of Toronto's business community, and at launch time it is so crowded you simply
can't find a seat.

Many Thai restaurants have popped up in Toronto in the last
few years and the best ones are usually run by people that have trained with, or worked
for, Wandee.

Vinka Valentine, Khun Wandee's very able manager, says her
boss, "Has a tremendous amount of love and respect for her country and King, and she
wants to express this love and respect very much. She has succeeded in doing this by doing
so well in business. She has pulled it off with a lot of hard work and dedication. She is
a true emissary for her country, and she is simply a genius in the kitchen."

When Wandee first came to Canada she said, "It was so
big, and so far away. I wanted to represent my country and show Canadian people my
culture, and King. I miss Thailand very much, especially all the beautiful places you can
visit like Phuket, Pattaya and Chiang Mai, but I am happy here and I am lucky enough to
have become successful at what I do."

"Tastes that tingle on your tongue, and flavors that will
excite your palate," wrote one reviewer. Wandee's spatialities include pad thai
(a Canadian favorite, and available frozen in all major supermarkets), garlic shrimps
(delicious), and spring rolls.

Ms Young, recently launched her third restaurant on John
Street in the trendy Spadina-Queen area of Toronto. A sign on an outside wall of the
eatery proclaims the restaurant to be the first Thai restaurant in Canada, and that's
Wandee's trademark. This new location is destined to be a huge success as well because as
one of her business associate's says, "Everything Wandee touches turns to gold."
High praise indeed and entirely justified.

Update: Currently Ms. Young has three Young Thailand restaurants, all located in Toronto: